Firefox 1.1 for Nokia N900 Release Notes

v.1.1, released July 1, 2010
The world's best Web browser has gone mobile.

Learn how we're bringing the Firefox experience to mobile devices.
Check out the features, known issues and frequently asked questions
about Firefox 1.1 for the Nokia N900.
As always, you’re encouraged to
give feedback
and tell us what you think,
ask a question, or
file a bug in Bugzilla.

Get Involved?

What's new in Firefox 1.1 for the Nokia N900

Firefox 1.1 is built on the same browser engine as Firefox 3.6 for desktop computers with extensive under the hood work to optimize for mobile. For the 1.1 release, we've listened to your feedback to help improve the browsing experience. As a result, polishing the user interface and improving UI responsiveness and performance is at the heart of this release. Secure, powerful and customizable, Firefox 1.1 for the Nokia N900 is packed with your favorite features and great improvements. Highlights include:

Firefox lets you browse in landscape and portrait mode

Volume rocker lets you zoom in and out

Personalized Start page helps you pick up where you left off

Add-ons auto-update and you can view the full add-on gallery

Fill out forms more easily with autocomplete improvements

Smart Tapping lets you tap on links, widgets and other Web content with accuracy

Context Menu lets you Open in New Tab and Save Image by long tapping and holding a link

Save to PDF in the Site Menu lets you capture important content, like a receipt or boarding pass, to view offline or access quickly

Forget Password in the Site Menu tells a website you no longer trust to forget your private data

Add Search Engine in the Site Menu lets you quickly add a new search engine to your Awesome Screen

System Requirements

Downloading

Download Firefox 1.1 for the Nokia N900 by visiting Firefox.com/m/. You can also go to Firefox.com/mobile and send an SMS text message that contains the download link directly to your Nokia N900. If you don't have an N900 you can download a build of Firefox for mobile to your desktop in order to test, provide feedback, and build add-ons. Desktop builds are for development purposes only and don't have full functionality:

Add-ons

There are currently over 60 Firefox add-ons available.
View the catalog here,
or search for and install add-ons directly from the
Add-ons Manager. We encourage you to install the add-ons
listed in the Firefox Mobile Starter Kit collection
as well as the recommended add-ons in the
Add-ons Manager to get the most out of your Firefox.

Known Issues

Stretched images can show black lines and dots near to bottom and side of content
bug 468496

Scrolling to bottom of a long Web page cannot be reached using the keyboard
bug 547307

Frequently Asked Questions

My mobile device is not a Nokia N900 or N810. When can I expect to use Firefox on my phone?

Firefox is in early development for the Android platform.
We continue to investigate ways to bring the Firefox experience to users,
regardless of their device or platform.
Learn more about our mobile projects.

Is it called Fennec or Firefox?

Fennec is the codename of Mozilla’s mobile project, however,
the official product name is Firefox. Same as the desktop.
Enjoy the same Firefox experience that you’ve come
to know and trust on the desktop, now available for mobile.

How will Firefox keep me safe while I browse on my mobile?

Mozilla’s open source process leverages the experience of
thousands of security experts around the globe,
and Firefox includes features like instant Web site ID
that checks on suspicious sites to ensure they’re what
they claim to be. Customizable security settings to
manage passwords, cookies, loading images and installing
add-ons give you complete control over your browsing experience.
Learn more.

How do I use the Firefox user interface to browse the Web?

To save space on your phone’s display, Firefox browser controls are stowed away to the sides of the screen. Swipe right to access your tabs on the left side of the screen. Swipe left to view one-touch bookmarking, back and forward, and access your browser tools. To let you see more of the Web site, your browser controls and Awesome Bar get stowed away out of view. when you scroll down a Web page, but they instantly reappear if you pan to either side.

How do I zoom in and out?

Double tap the screen with your finger to zoom in and out. On the Nokia N900, you can also now use the volume rocker on the top of the device to zoom in and out. Also, on the Nokia N900, Ctrl-up and Ctrl-down arrows will zoom in and out.

How do I bookmark a Web page?

Go to the site you wish to bookmark. Touch the bookmark “star” button on the right side of your display.

How do I open a new tab?

Touch the new tab "plus" button on the left side of your display screen to open a new tab. Tabs appear as thumbnails so you can easily see which page you’d like to select.

What are Firefox Add-ons and how can I get them on my mobile device?

Add-ons let you customize your Firefox by adding features and customizations that help make your browser your own. Select the Tools “gear” button on the bottom right-hand side of your screen, then choose the add-ons “puzzle piece” button and search for and install the add-ons that are most useful to you directly from your phone.

How can I share my Firefox bookmarks, history, tabs, and passwords between my desktop and my mobile?

No. Although we think that syncing Firefox between your desktop and mobile with Weave Sync is highly useful, it is an optional service that you can choose to use or not. You will still be able to break in your Firefox mobile Web browser with the Awesome Bar, which remembers where you go and how often, getting to your favorite sites very quickly.

What is Location-Aware Browsing? Is Firefox tracking where I am?

Location-Aware Browsing saves you time by allowing websites
to ask you where you are. If you choose to share your
location with a website, it can use that information to
find nearby points of interest and return additional,
useful data like maps of your area. It’s all optional –
Firefox doesn’t share your location without your permission.
Learn more about Location-Aware Browsing.

Developer Questions

Will a Firefox add-on I built for the PC work on mobile? If not, do I need to change it?

Although Firefox for the desktop and mobile are built on the same platform,
there are small differences that will require developers to make changes to their add-ons.
These changes are usually straightforward,
visit the Develop for Mobile
page to learn more.

What browser engine does Firefox use?

The desktop and mobile versions of Firefox both use the Gecko rendering engine.
The mobile version of Firefox uses Gecko version 1.9.2,
which is the best performing browser engine Mozilla has ever
released and includes exciting features such as radically improved JavaScript performance,
geolocation support, worker threads, and much more.What JavaScript engine does Firefox use?
Firefox includes the new “TraceMonkey”
JavaScript engine, an advanced JIT (“just in time”) compiler using tracing technology.
The TraceMonkey engine makes Web applications faster by compiling code as you execute it,
allowing many types of CPU-intensive applications to run at near-native speed.

HTML 5 is the next major revision of HTML.
The HTML 5 specification is an ongoing work,
but there are several HTML 5 and related features
that will enable Web developers to create more innovative
websites and applications. Firefox includes important features like
Location-Aware browsing,
the <canvas>
and <svg> tags,
Web workers
and offline storage.

Does Firefox on my phone support plugins?

Support for plugins in Firefox for Maemo has been disabled. On most Web pages that use the Adobe Flash plugin, the performance of the plugin didn't meet our standards, and the interactivity and performance of the entire Web page was negatively impacted. This was especially felt on pages with multiple instances of the plugin. Advanced users can enable plugins for experimentation and testing purposes only. We are working on ways for the user to have control of which sites to enable plugins for, as some sites, like YouTube, do work quite well. We plan to provide a browser add-on that will enable you to selectively enable plugins on certain sites, because some sites, like YouTube, work well.

How can I get involved?

Check out our Develop for Mobile
page to learn more about how you can contribute to Mozilla’s mobile project.
If you’d like to learn more about you can get involved in other mobile-related initiatives,
check out our Get Involved page.
As always, your input is welcome. Please
provide your feedback
using Firefox for mobile.

Other Resources and Links

The following resources contain useful information about Firefox for mobile: